Coating method and apparatus, a permanent magnet, and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

The object of the present invention is to improve the productivity of a permanent magnet and to manufacture it at a low cost by effectively coating Dy and Tb on a surface of the magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements having a predetermined configuration. The permanent magnet of the present invention is manufactured by a coating step for coating Dy on the surface of the magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements having a predetermined configuration and a diffusing step for diffusing Dy coated on the surface of the magnet into crystal grain boundary phases of the magnet with being heat treated at a predetermined temperature. In this case, the coating step comprises a first step for heating a process chamber used for carrying out the coating step and generating metallic vapor atmosphere within the process chamber by vaporizing vaporizable metallic material previously arranged within the process chamber, and a second step for introducing into the process chamber the magnet held at a temperature lower than that within the process chamber and then selectively depositing the vaporizable metallic material on a surface of the magnet by an effect of temperature difference between the temperature within the process chamber and that of the magnet by the magnet reaches a predetermined temperature.

This application is a divisional under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/886,629, filed on Sep. 18, 2007, which was aU.S. national phase patent application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCTPatent Application No. PCT/JP2006/305034, filed on Mar. 14, 2006, whichclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No.2005-080021, filed on Mar. 18, 2005, all of which are incorporated intheir entireties by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to coating method and apparatus, apermanent magnet, and a manufacturing method thereof, and moreparticularly to a permanent magnet and a manufacturing method thereof inwhich the permanent magnet is manufactured by coating vaporizablemetallic material including at least one of Dy and Tb on a surface of amagnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements, and then diffusing at least one ofDy and Tb into crystal grain boundary phases of a sintered magnet byheat treating the vaporizable metallic material at a predeterminedtemperature, as well as to coating method and apparatus suitable forcoating vaporizable metallic material including at least one of Dy andTb on the surface of the magnet.

2. Description of Background Art

A sintered magnet of Nd—Fe—B (a so-called “neodymium magnet”) has beenused in various products e.g. motors for a hybrid vehicle and generatorsetc. recently since the neodymium magnet can be made of combination ofelements Fe, Nd and B which are cheap and sufficiently and stablyobtainable resources and also has high magnetic properties (its maximumenergy product is 10 times that of ferritic magnet). On the other handthe sintered magnet of Nd—Fe—B has a problem that it is demagnetized byheat when it is heated beyond its predetermined temperature since itsCurie temperature is low such as 300° C.

Accordingly when manufacturing the sintered magnet of Nd—Fe—B, since Dyand Tb have the magnetic anisotropy of 4f-electron larger than that ofNd and have the negative Stevens factor similarly to that of Nd, it canbe appreciated to add Dy or Tb to remarkably improve themagnetocrystalline anisotropy of the principal phase. However, since Dyand Tb take the ferrimagnetism structure in which Dy and Tb take a spinorientation opposite to that of Nd in the principal phase crystallattice, it is caused a problem that the magnetic field strength,therefore the maximum energy product exhibiting the magnetic propertiesis greatly reduced.

For solving such a problem, it is proposed to firstly coat Dy or Tb on awhole surface of a sintered magnet of Nd—Fe—B having a predeterminedconfiguration such as a rectangular parallelopiped at a predeterminedcoating thickness (thickness more than 3 μm determined based on a volumeof the magnet) and then to uniformly diffusing Dy and Tb coated on thesurface of the magnet into the crystal grain boundary phases of themagnet with carrying out heat treatment at a predetermined temperature(see non-patent document 1 mentioned below).

The permanent magnet manufactured according to this method has merits inthat the coercive force generating mechanism of nucleation-type isreinforced by an effect that Dy and Tb diffused in the crystal grainboundary phases increase the magnetocrystalline anisotropy in eachcrystal grain surface and by the result of which the coercive force isremarkably improved almost without causing loss of the maximum energyproduct (for example, the non-patent document 1 discloses that it ispossible to have a magnet having the coercive force of 23 K0e (3 MA/m)at the remanent magnetic flux density of 14.5 kG (1.45 T) and themaximum energy product of 50 MG0e (400 Kj/m³). When coating Dy or Tb onthe surface of the sintered magnet of Nd—Fe—B, it can be appreciated touse the sputtering method that exhibits an excellent adhesion of Dy orTb coating to a surface of sintered magnet.

-   Note: non-patent document 1; “Improvement of coercive on thin    Nd2Fe14B sintered permanent magnets” (Park Ki Te, A doctor's thesis    of Touhoku University, Mar. 23, 2000).

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

However since the sputtering method is bad in usage efficiency of itstarget and in yield of vaporizable metallic material for coating, it isnot suit for coating of Dy or Tb which is scarce material and thuscannot be expected to sufficiently and stably supply. In addition inorder to coat a whole surface of a magnet having a predeterminedconfiguration such as a rectangular parallelopiped by using thesputtering method, it is necessary to rotate the magnet itself and thusit is required to provide a mechanism for rotating the magnet. Thisfurther increases manufacturing cost of the magnet in addition to a costfor making a sputtering target of Dy or Tb which is rare resources andexpensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, a first object of the present invention to provide apermanent magnet and a manufacturing method thereof which canmanufacture the magnet at a low cost with effectively using Dy and Tb ascoating material and coating them on a surface of the magnet ofFe—B-rare earth elements having a predetermined configuration.

It is also a second object of the present invention to provide a coatingmethod and a coating apparatus which can exhibit high yield ofvaporizable metallic material to be coated and achieve a substantiallyuniform coating at a high speed over a whole surface of an article to becoated (i.e. a sintered magnet) having a predetermined configuration andwhich is suit in particularly to coating of Dy and Tb on a surface of amagnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements having a predetermined configuration.

Means for Achieving the Objects

For achieving the object of the present invention, there is provided,according to the present invention, a coating method comprising a firststep for heating a process chamber and generating metallic vaporatmosphere within the process chamber by vaporizing vaporizable metallicmaterial previously arranged within the process chamber, and a secondstep for introducing into the process chamber articles to be coated heldat a temperature lower than that within the process chamber and thenselectively depositing the vaporizable metallic material on a surface ofarticle to be coated by an effect of temperature difference between thetemperature within the process chamber and that of the articles to becoated.

According to this coating method of the present invention, since themetallic coating is formed by selectively depositing the vaporizablemetallic material on a surface of article to be coated by an effect oftemperature difference between the temperature within the processchamber and that of the articles to be coated, it is possible to achievehigh yield of the vaporizable metallic material to be coated and to coata whole surface of article to be coated having a predeterminedconfiguration at a high speed.

In such a case, it is preferable that the metallic vapor atmosphere isin a saturated condition within the process chamber so as to have thecoating at a higher speed.

Also according to the present invention, there is provided a coatingapparatus comprising a process chamber which can heat substantiallyuniformly an inside of the process chamber to a high temperature by aheating means, a preparatory chamber communicating to the processchamber, an evacuating means for holding both the process andpreparatory chambers at a predetermined degree of vacuum, an open/closemeans moveable between an opened position in which the process andpreparatory chambers are communicated each other and a closed positionin which the process chamber is tightly closed, and a conveying meanswhich can move the articles to be coated between the process chamber andthe preparatory chamber and can tightly close the process chamber whenthe article to be coated are moved into the process chamber at theopened position of the open/close means, wherein the process chamber isheated at the closed position of the open/close means, metallic vaporatmosphere is generated by vaporizing vaporizable metal materialpreviously arranged within the process chamber, the articles to becoated within the preparatory chamber are moved into the process chamberby the conveying means with the open/close means being moved to theopened position so as to selectively deposit the vaporizable metallicmaterial on a surface of article to be coated by an effect oftemperature difference between the temperature within the processchamber and that of the articles to be coated.

In this coating apparatus, both the process chamber and the preparatorychamber are evacuated to a predetermined degree of vacuum via theevacuating means after the articles to be coated have been arrangedwithin the preparatory chamber. Then when the process chamber is heatedafter the open/close means has been moved to the closed position totightly close the process chamber, the metallic vapor atmosphere isgenerated within the process chamber with the vaporizable metallicmaterial previously arranged within the process chamber being vaporized.Then the open/close means is moved to the opened position and thearticles to be coated are moved from the preparatory chamber to theprocess chamber by the conveying means. When articles to be coated heldat a temperature lower than that within the process chamber (e.g.articles of ordinary temperature) are introduced into the processchamber, metallic atoms in the metallic vapor atmosphere are selectivelydeposited only on the surface of article to be coated at a high speed.Thus, it is possible to achieve high yield of the vaporizable metallicmaterial to be coated and to coat a whole surface of article to becoated having a predetermined configuration at a high speed.

In such a case, it is preferable that the process chamber is arrangedwithin a vacuum chamber equipped with another evacuating means anddefined by a uniformly heating plate formed with an opening at one sidethereof, a heat insulating member is arranged so that it encloses theuniformly heating plate except for said side of the uniformly heatingplate in which said opening is formed, and a heating means for heatingthe uniformly heating plate is arranged between the uniformly heatingplate and the heat insulating member. Such a structure makes it possibleto substantially uniformly heat the process chamber by heating theuniformly heating plate with the use of the heating means and byindirectly heating the process chamber via the uniformly heating plate.

Also it is preferable that the coating apparatus further comprises a gasintroducing means for introducing inert gas into the preparatorychamber, and the inert gas is introduced into the preparatory chambervia the gas introducing means so as to hold the pressure within theprocess chamber at a negative pressure relative to that of thepreparatory chamber. Such a structure makes it possible to prevent thevaporizable metallic material from flowing into the preparatory chamberby a pressure difference between the process chamber and the preparatorychamber when the open/close means is moved to the opened position inorder to introduce the articles to be coated into the process chamberafter the metallic vapor atmosphere has been generated within theprocess chamber.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the preparatory chamber isequipped with a gas introducing means for introducing He gas into thepreparatory chamber, and the He gas is introduced into the preparatorychamber via the gas introducing means so as to hold the pressure withinthe process chamber at substantially same as that within the preparatorychamber. Such a structure makes it possible to prevent the vaporizablemetallic material from flowing into the preparatory chamber by adifference in specific gravity between the process chamber and thepreparatory chamber when the open/close means is moved to the openedposition in order to introduce the articles to be coated into theprocess chamber after the metallic vapor atmosphere has been generatedwithin the process chamber.

In such a case, it is preferable that the process chamber is arrangedbelow the preparatory chamber.

It is also preferable that the coating apparatus further comprises aplacement means on which the vaporizable metallic material can be placedwithin the process chamber, and the placement means is formed as anannulus so that the vaporizable metallic material can be arranged aroundthe articles to be coated when the articles to be coated are moved intothe process chamber by the conveying means. This makes it possible touniformly heat the vaporizable metallic material at any portion of theplacement means and thus to obtain a further uniform coating.

In addition, it is preferable that the preparatory chamber is equippedwith a plasma generating means for cleaning the surface of article to becoated by using plasma.

On the other hand, it is also preferable that the preparatory chamber isequipped with another heating means for cleaning the surface of articleto be coated by heat treatment with introducing the inert gas into thevacuum atmosphere or the preparatory chamber via the gas introducingmeans connected thereto.

It is preferable that the vaporizable metallic material is alloyincluding either one of Dy or Tb or including at least one of Dy and Tb,and the article to be coated is a sintered magnet of Fe—B-rare earthelements having a predetermined configuration.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a methodfor manufacturing a permanent magnet comprising steps for coatingvaporizable metallic material including at least one of Dy and Tb on asurface of a magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements having a predeterminedconfiguration, and diffusing the vaporizable metallic material coated onthe surface of the magnet into crystal grain boundary phases of asintered magnet by heat treating the vaporizable metallic material at apredetermined temperature characterized in that the coating stepcomprises a first step for heating a process chamber used for carryingout the coating step and generating metallic vapor atmosphere within theprocess chamber by vaporizing vaporizable metallic material previouslyarranged within the process chamber, and a second step for introducinginto the process chamber the magnet held at a temperature lower thanthat within the process chamber and then selectively depositing thevaporizable metallic material on a surface of the magnet by an effect oftemperature difference between the temperature within the processchamber and that of the magnet by the magnet reaches a predeterminedtemperature.

According this manufacturing method, the metallic vapor atmosphere isgenerated by heating the process chamber after the vaporizable metallicmaterial including at least one of Dy and Tb of the coating material hasbeen arranged within the process chamber. Then, when articles to becoated held at a temperature lower than that within the process chamber(e.g. articles of ordinary temperature) are introduced into the processchamber heated to a high temperature, metallic atoms including Dy and Tbin the metallic vapor atmosphere are selectively deposited only on thesurface of article to be coated at a high speed. Then the vaporizationis stopped after having held the magnet in this condition for apredetermined time duration until the magnet reaches a predeterminedtemperature. Accordingly vaporizable metallic material including atleast one of Dy and Tb can be coated at a high speed on the surface ofthe magnet at a predetermined coating thickness and thus theproductivity of the magnet can be improved. In addition since thevaporizable metallic material including at least one of Dy and Tb isselectively deposited only on the surface of article to be coated, it ispossible to effectively use Dy and Tb which are rare resources andexpensive and thus to reduce the manufacturing cost of magnet.

It is preferable the metallic vapor atmosphere is in a saturatedcondition within the process chamber in order to coat at a higher speedthe vaporizable metallic material including at least one of Dy and Tb onthe surface of magnet. Although it is possible to contain within theprocess chamber inert gases in addition to vapors of the vaporizablemetallic materials including at least one of Dy and Tb, coating at amaximum speed can be attained when the total pressure within the processchamber is filled with saturated vapors of vaporizable metallicmaterials including at least one of Dy and Tb.

The melting point of Dy and Tb is high and thus it is preferable thatthe vaporizable metallic material further includes at least one of Nd,Pr, Al, Cu, Ga and Ta in order to generating the metallic vaporatmosphere within the process chamber in a short time. This enables tofurther increase the coercive force as compared with a permanent magnetmade by heat treatment for example after coating of Dy only.

By the way, when the magnet of ordinary temperature is introduced intothe process chamber heated to a high temperature, the magnet itself isalso heated by the radiant heat. Then when this magnet is heated andthermally expanded, peeling of the coating deposited on the surface ofmagnet is liable to be caused by a fact that the thermal expansionexhibits abnormality like as inver alloy at a temperature below theCurie point. Thus Accordingly, it is preferable that the predeterminedtemperature in the second step is lower than 250° C. or higher than 450°C. This is because that the peeling of the coating deposited on thesurface of magnet is hard to be caused since strain due to thermalexpanding abnormality is reduced at a temperature lower than 250° C. andon the other hand, adhesion between the magnet and at least one of Dyand Tb deposited on the surface of magnet is improved due to melting ofpart of the magnet and thus the peeling of the coating deposited on thesurface of magnet is hard to be caused at a temperature higher than 450°C.

In this case, it is preferable that the method for manufacturing apermanent magnet further comprises a step for cleaning the surface ofthe magnet within the vacuum atmosphere prior to introduction into theprocess chamber of the magnet held at a temperature lower than thatwithin the process chamber. This makes it possible to remove for exampleoxide film on the surface of magnet and thus to increase the adhesivestrength of the vaporizable metallic material including one of Dy and Tbto the surface of magnet as well as to uniformly diffuse Dy and Tbcoated on the surface of magnet into crystal grain boundary phase of themagnet during diffusing step.

It is also preferable that the temperature within the process chamber inthe first step is set at a range of 1,000˜1,700° C. This is because thata vapor pressure which can coat the vaporizable metallic materialincluding at least one of Dy and Tb at a high speed on the surface ofmagnet cannot be obtained at a temperature lower than 1,000° C. and onthe other hand the coating time duration of the magnet becomes too shortto obtain a uniform coating at a temperature higher than 1,700° C.

It is also preferable that the grain diameter of the vaporizablemetallic material arranged within the process chamber in the coatingstep is in a range of 10˜1,000 μm. This is because that handling ofgrains of Dy and Tb having inflammability is difficult at a graindiameter smaller than 10 μm and on the other hand the surface area ofthe grains is reduced and thus a longer time duration for vaporizationis required at a grain diameter larger than 1,000 μm.

Further according to the present invention, there is provided apermanent magnet comprising a magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements havinga predetermined configuration, and a surface of the magnet beingselectively deposited by the vaporizable metallic material by an effectof temperature difference between the temperature within the processchamber and that of the magnet by the magnet reaches a predeterminedtemperature with generating metallic vapor atmosphere within the processchamber by vaporizing vaporizable metallic material including at leastone of Dy and Tb and with introducing into the processing chamber themagnet held at a temperature lower than that within the process chamber,then the magnet being heat treated so as to diffusing at least one of Dyand Tb on the surface of the magnet into crystal grain boundary phasesof the magnet.

The neodymium magnet of the prior art has nature of being easilycorroded and thus its surface is covered by a protecting film such asresin coating or nickel plating. On the contrary, the surface of themagnet of the present invention is covered by a coating including atleast one of Dy and Tb having extremely high corrosion and weatherresistance. Thus at least one of Dy and Tb plays a role of theprotecting film of the magnet and thus it is possible to obtain apermanent magnet having excellent corrosion and weather resistancewithout requiring any additional protecting film. Accordingly it ispossible to further improve the productivity and to reduce themanufacturing cost.

In this case, it is preferable that the surface and crystal grainboundary of the magnet have a rich phase including at least one of Dyand Tb. According to this structure, it is possible to have a permanentmagnet having extremely excellent corrosion and weather resistance dueto the presence of the rich phase including at least one of Dy and Tb inaddition to the presence of the rich phase on the surface of magnet.

It is further preferable that the surface of the magnet is covered bythe rich phase, and the crystal grain boundary includes 1˜50% richphase. If the crystal grain boundary includes the rich phase exceeding50%, the maximum energy product, the remanent magnetic flux density andthe coercive force exhibiting the magnetic properties are extremelyreduced.

Effects of the Invention

The permanent magnet and its manufacturing method of the presentinvention have effects that the magnet can be manufactured at a highproductivity and a low cost with effectively using Dy and Tb of coatingmaterials and coating them at a high speed on the surface of magnet ofFe—B-rare earth elements having a predetermined configuration and thatthe magnet has excellent corrosion resistance and weather resistancewithout any additional protective film.

In addition, the coating method and apparatus of the present inventionhave effects that they can carry out coating of vaporizable metallicmaterial at high yield and speed and substantially uniformly on a wholesurface of the magnet having a predetermined configuration and areespecially suitable for coating of vaporizable metallic materialincluding Dy and Tb on a surface of magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elementshaving a predetermined configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional advantages and features of the present invention will becomeapparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an explanatory schematic view showing a structure of thecoating apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a support means for supportingsintered magnets i.e. articles to be coated within a process chamber;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing steps of manufacture of apermanent magnet of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relation between the temperature and thedensity of Ar, He and Dy;

FIG. 5 is a table showing average values of magnetic properties ofpermanent magnets manufactured in an embodiment 1;

FIG. 6 is a table showing average values of coating thickness coated inan embodiment 2 and magnetic properties of permanent magnetsmanufactured in the embodiment 2;

FIG. 7 is a table showing average values of coating thickness andmaximum temperature of Dy coated in an embodiment 3 and magneticproperties of permanent magnets manufactured in an embodiment 3;

FIG. 8 is a table showing average values of magnetic properties of apermanent magnet manufactured in an embodiment 4;

FIG. 9 is a table showing average values of coating thickness on thesurface of a magnet coated in an embodiment 5;

FIG. 10 is a table showing magnetic properties and the percent defectiveof adhesion of coating of a permanent magnet obtained in an embodiment6;

FIG. 11 is a table showing the magnetic property, the corrosionresistance and the weather resistance respectively of an embodiment 7and comparative examples 1˜4; and

FIG. 12 is a table showing magnetic properties of a permanent magnetmanufactured in an embodiment 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Best Mode for Carrying Out theInvention

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a numeral 1 denotes a coating apparatussuitable for selectively coating vaporizable metallic materials such asDy and Tb at a high speed on the surface of article S, e.g. sinteredmagnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements. The coating apparatus 1 has aprocess chamber 2 and a preparatory chamber 3 connected vertically eachother. The process chamber 2 positioned above the preparatory chamber 3is arranged within a cylindrical vacuum chamber 11 which can be held ina predetermined degree of vacuum through an evacuating means 11 a suchas a turbo-molecular pump, a cryopump, a diffusion pump etc.

The process chamber 2 is defined by a uniformly heating plate 21 havinga cylindrical configuration opened at its bottom end communicating withthe preparatory chamber 3. The uniformly heating plate 21 is surroundedexcept for its opened bottom by a heat insulating member 22 of carbonarranged within the vacuum chamber 11. For example, a plurality ofelectric heaters 23 consisting of W forming a heating means are arrangedbetween the uniformly heating plate 21 and the heat insulating member22. Thus a space within the process chamber 2 can be heatedsubstantially uniformly by heating the uniformly heating plate 21surrounded by the heat insulating member 22 with use of the heatingmeans 23 within vacuum and thus by indirectly heating the space withinthe process chamber 2 via the uniformly heating plate 21.

As most clearly shown in FIG. 2, an acceptor 24 having a “U” shapedcross-section is arranged within the process chamber 2. The acceptor 24is used for placing the vaporizable metallic material thereon and thusforms a placement means. The acceptor 24 is mounted on the inner surfaceof the uniformly heating plate 21 and has an annular configuration sothat the vaporizable metallic material conveyed into the process chamber2 by a conveyor mentioned below can be arranged around the articles tobe coated S. The vaporizable metallic material is selected according tothe coating to be coated on the surface of article to be coated and thevaporizable metallic material of pellet configuration is uniformlyarranged on the acceptor 24 therealong. The acceptor 24 is not necessaryto be formed as a continuous annulus and may be separately formed atequidistant in a circumferential direction.

A first space 4 is formed under the process chamber 2 and an open/closemeans 5 is arranged within the first space 4. The open/close means 5comprises a valve body 51 and a driving means 52 such as a pneumaticcylinder and can be displaced by the driving means 52 between an openedposition (FIG. 1) in which the process chamber 2 and the preparatorychamber 3 are communicated with each other via the valve body 51 and aclosed position in which the process chamber 2 is tightly closed withthe valve body 51 being contacted with a top plate 41 forming the firstspace 4 and sealing an opening formed in the top plate 41. The valvebody 51 is provided with a second heating means (not shown).

A second space 3 a is arranged under the first space 4. A side wall 30defining the second space 3 a is provided with a gate valve (not shown)through which articles S to be coated are introduced into thepreparatory chamber 3 and taken out therefrom. The articles S to becoated are supported on a supporting means 6. The supporting means 6comprises three posts 61 and two supporting members 62 arrangedrespectively spaced from the bottom of the posts 61 at a predetermineddistance and supported by the posts 61. Each post 61 has a smalldiameter so as to minimize heat transmission therethrough. This isbecause to minimize heat transmission from a pusher member 74 mentionedbelow to articles S i.e. sintered magnets via the posts 61.

Each supporting member 62 is formed as a net of wires of 0.1˜10 mm φ sothat a bottom surface of the articles S placed on the supporting member62 can be coated. The distance between the supporting members 62 is setin view of the height of the articles S placed thereon. The supportingmeans 6 is arranged within the second space 3 a and mounted on a disc 63formed with a central opening 63 a through which a supporting tablementioned below can pass. The disc 63 is adapted to be placed on asupporting ring 64 arranged within the process chamber 2.

A third space 3 b is formed under the second space 3 a and these secondand third spaces 3 a and 3 b define the preparatory chamber 3. Aevacuating means 31 such as a turbo-molecular pump, a cryopump and adiffusion pump etc. is connected to the preparatory chamber 3. Thus thepreparatory chamber 3 and process chamber 2 communicated with thepreparatory chamber 3 via the first space 4 are held at a predetermineddegree of vacuum by the evacuating means 31. A driving means 71 such asa pneumatic cylinder is arranged at the bottom of the preparatorychamber 3 and a supporting disc 73 is mounted on the tip end of a shaft72 of the driving means 71 projected into the preparatory chamber 3. Thedriving means 71 and the supporting disc 73 form a conveying means 7 andthe supporting disc 73 can be moved upward and downward between apredetermined position (elevated position) within the process chamber 2and a predetermined position (lowered position) within the preparatorychamber 3.

A pusher member 74 having an inverted “T” shaped cross-section ismounted on the shaft 72 below the supporting disc 73. When the conveyingmeans 7 is moved to the elevated position, the pusher member 74 pushesthe disc 63 upward and thus forces a sealing member (not shown) such asa metal seal arranged at outer periphery of the disc 63 against theperiphery of the opening formed in top plate 41 to tightly close theprocess chamber 2. The pusher member 74 is provided with a third heatingmeans (not shown).

The second space 3 a forming the preparatory chamber 3 is provided witha plasma generating means comprising a coil (not shown) connected to ahigh frequency power source and a gas introducing means 32 forintroducing inert gas into the preparatory chamber 3. The inert gasincludes e.g. rare gas such as He and Ar etc. A pretreatment of cleaningthe surface of article S using plasma is carried out within thepreparatory chamber 3 prior to the coating carried out within theprocess chamber 2 with generating plasma within the preparatory chamber3. In this case, it is possible to carry out a pretreatment of cleaningthe surface of article S using heat treatment for example by providingan electric heater (not shown) of W within the preparatory chamber 3 andfurther carry out heat treatment of the article S completed the coatingwithin a vacuum atmosphere.

Then manufacture of the permanent magnet of the present invention withcarrying out the present method using the present apparatus 1 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1˜3. First of all, a sintered magnetof Fe—B-rare earth elements being an article to be coated ismanufactured using any known method. For example, the sintered magnetcan be manufactured by high frequency melting blend of Fe, B and Nd of apredetermined composition ratio and casting it to have an ingot, then bygrinding the ingot to powder and molding the magnetically orientedpowder to a predetermined configuration, and finally by sintering themolded article to obtain a sintered magnet S (FIG. 3( a)). Then thesintered magnets S of a predetermined configuration are placed on thesupporting members 62 of the supporting means 6. In this case, it ispreferable to arrange the sintered magnets S on the supporting members62 so that the direction of easy magnetization of the sintered magnets Scorresponds to a direction parallel to the supporting members 62.

Then the vaporizable metallic material Dy is arranged on the acceptor 24within the process chamber 2. The grain diameter of Dy is preferably ina range of 10˜1,000 μm. This is because that handling of grains of Dyand Tb having inflammability is difficult at a grain diameter smallerthan 10 μm and on the other hand a longer time duration for vaporizationis required at a grain diameter larger than 1,000 μm. For increasing theyield of Dy, gross of Dy placed on the acceptor 24 is determined as anamount required to hold the Dy vapor atmosphere within the processchamber 2 until the magnet reaches a predetermined temperature(temperature at which the vaporizable metallic material diffuses notonly into the crystal grain but into the crystal grain boundary).

Then the gate valve arranged on the side wall 30 is opened to introducethe supporting means 6 supporting the sintered magnets S into the secondspace 3 a and the supporting means 6 is laid on the disc 63. Then thegate valve is closed and evacuating means 11 a and 31 are actuated toevacuate the vacuum chamber 11 as well as the preparatory chamber 3 andthe process chamber 2 via the first space 4 until they reach apredetermined pressure (e.g. 10×10⁻⁶ Pa). In this case, the open/closemeans 5 is in the opened position.

Then, when the pressure in the process chamber 2 and the preparatorychamber 3 reach a predetermined value, the open/close means 5 is movedto the closed position by the driving means 52 so that the valve body 51closes the process chamber 2. Then the heating means 23 and the secondheating means of the valve body 51 of the open/close means 5 areactuated to heat the process chamber 2 until the temperature within theprocess chamber 2 reaches a predetermined temperature. The temperaturewithin the process chamber is preferably set in a range of 1,000˜1,700°C. This is because that a vapor pressure which can coat Dy at a highspeed on the surface of magnet S cannot be obtained at a temperaturelower than 1,000° C. and on the other hand the coating time duration ofthe sintered magnet S becomes too short to obtain a uniform coating at atemperature higher than 1,700° C. The temperature within the processchamber 2 is preferably in a range 1,200˜1,500° C., and more preferablyin a range 1,200˜1,400° C. A desirable coating thickness can be obtainedat a high speed in these temperature ranges.

Then generating Dy vapor atmosphere having a vapor pressure e.g. of 10Pa at 1,300° C. in the process chamber 2. Since convection is causedwithin the process chamber 2 under a vapor pressure of 10 Pa, coating isformed on a whole surface of the sintered magnet S of ordinarytemperature when it is introduced into the process chamber.

When the uniformly heating plate 21 defining the process chamber 2 isformed of Al₂O₃ widely used in a general vacuum apparatus, it is afraidthat Dy in vapor atmosphere reacts with Al₂O₃ and forms reactionproducts on its surface and Al atoms would enter into the Dy vaporatmosphere. For such a reason, the uniformly heating plate 21 definingthe process chamber 2, the supporting means 6 for supporting thesintered magnets S and the supporting disc 73 of the conveying means 7is formed of materials which do not react with vaporizable metallicmaterials used for coating, for example, Mo, W, V, Ta, alloys of theseelements, CaO, Y₂O₃, or oxides of rare earth elements. In addition,coating formed of these materials may be applied to a surface of heatinsulating member as a lining film.

While Dy vapor atmosphere is formed within the process chamber 2, apretreatment of surface cleaning is carried out within the preparatorychamber 3, for example, for removing an oxide film on the sinteredmagnet S therefrom. In this case, it may be possible carry out thecleaning of surface of the sintered magnet by plasma generated withinthe preparatory chamber 3 by introducing inert gas e.g. Ar into thepreparatory chamber 3 via the gas introducing means 32 and then byactuating the high frequency power source until the pressure within thepreparatory chamber 3 reaches a predetermined value (e.g. 10×10⁻¹ Pa).When the pretreatment is completed, the temperature of the sinteredmaterial will be from the room temperature to 200° C.

When the formation of Dy vapor atmosphere within the process chamber 2and the cleaning of the surface of sintered magnet S are completed,inert gas e.g. Ar is introduced into the preparatory chamber 3 via thegas introducing means 32 until the pressure within the preparatorychamber 3 reaches a predetermined value (e.g. 1,000 Pa) so as to oncegenerate a pressure difference more than two digits relative to theprocess chamber 2. When the pressure within the preparatory chamber 3has reached a predetermined value, the process chamber 2 and thepreparatory chamber 3 are communicated with each other by displacing theopen/close means 5 to its opened position. In this case, since thepressure within the process chamber 2 is differentiated from that in thepreparatory chamber 3, Ar is flowed into the process chamber 2 from thepreparatory chamber 3 and as the pressure within the process chamber 2is increased. Thus, although the vaporization is once stopped (howeveroperation of the heating means 23 is not stopped), entering of Dyvaporized within the process chamber 2 into the preparatory chamber 3 isprevented.

Then, when the pressure within the process chamber 2 and the preparatorychamber 3 is evacuated again via the evacuating means 31 until itreaches a predetermined value (e.g. 10×10⁻² Pa), Dy is vaporized again.Then the supporting means 6 supporting sintered magnets S is conveyedinto the process chamber 2 with actuation of driving means 71 of theconveying means 7. In this case the process chamber 2 is tightly closedwith a sealing member such as a metal seal provided on the periphery ofthe disc 63 being closely contacted against a surface around the openingformed in the top plate 41.

Then, when the process chamber 2 being heated is tightly closed again,e.g. Dy saturated vapor atmosphere of 10 Pa at 1,300° C. is generatedwithin the process chamber 2 and this condition is held for apredetermined time duration. In this case, since sintered magnets Shaving a temperature lower than that within the process chamber 2 havebeen introduced into the process chamber 2, Dy in the vapor isselectively deposited on the surface of the sintered magnets S due tothe temperature difference between the temperature within the processchamber 2 and that of the magnets S (coating step). Thus Dy can becoated at a high speed only on the surface of the sintered magnets S(FIG. 3( b)). During which, no Dy is deposited on the pusher member 74of the supporting table 73 since the pusher member 74 is heated to atemperature substantially same as that of the uniformly heating plate 21by a third heating means (not shown).

Since not only Dy but the sintered magnets S themselves are heated byradiant heat when sintered magnets S having the ordinary temperature areintroduced into the process chamber 2 heated to a high temperature, theholding time duration within the process chamber 2 in which saturatedvapor atmosphere is generated is a term by the sintered magnets S reach900° C. and also a term by a necessary amount of Dy is deposited on thesurface of the sintered magnets S (in which “necessary amount of Dy”means an amount that Dy is diffused only into the crystal grain boundaryto improve the magnetic properties of the sintered magnets 5). If thesintered magnets S are heated to a temperature exceeding 900° C., Dywould be diffused into grains (crystal grains of the principal phase) ofthe magnets S. Eventually such a situation would be same as that ofadmixture of Dy during manufacturing of the permanent magnet and thus itis afraid that the magnetic field strength therefore the maximum energyproduct exhibiting the magnetic properties would be greatly reduced.

By the way, when the sintered magnet S is thermally expanded due toheating, the thermal expansion of the sintered magnet S exhibitsabnormality like an invar alloy at a temperature lower than the Curietemperature (about 300° C.) and thus peeling of the coating deposited onthe surface of magnet S is liable to be caused. Accordingly the holdingtime duration is preferably so that the maximum temperature of thesintered magnet S is lower than 250° C. or higher than 450° C. This isbecause that the peeling of the coating deposited on the surface ofmagnet is hard to be caused since strain due to thermal expandingabnormality is reduced at a temperature lower than 250° C. and on theother hand, adhesion between the magnet and Dy deposited on the surfaceof magnet is improved due to melting of part of the magnet and thus thepeeling of the coating deposited on the surface of magnet is hard to becaused at a temperature higher than 450° C.

On the other hand, an inert gas such as Ar is introduced into thepreparatory chamber 3 via the gas introducing means 32 until thepressure within the preparatory chamber 3 reaches a predetermined value(e.g. 1,000 Pa). After a lapse of predetermined time duration afterconveyance of the sintered magnets S into the process chamber 2, thesupporting disc 73 is moved from the elevated position within theprocess chamber 2 to the lowered position within the preparatory chamber3 and the open/close means 5 is moved from the opened position to theclosed position. During which, no Dy in the vapor is deposited on thevalve body 51 of the open/close means 5 since the valve body 51 isheated by the second heating means (not shown) to a temperaturesubstantially same as that of the uniformly heating plate 21. Thevaporization is stopped due to a fact that Ar enters from thepreparatory chamber 3 to the process chamber 2 and the sintered magnetsS on which Dy is coated are cooled in the Ar atmosphere.

Then the preparatory chamber 3 isolated from the process chamber 2 isevacuated by the evacuating means 31 until the pressure within thepreparatory chamber 3 reaches a predetermined value (10×10⁻³ Pa), andheat treatment is carried out on the sintered magnets S on which Dyhaving been coated for a predetermined time duration under apredetermined temperature (e.g. 700˜950° C.) with actuation of theheating means arranged in the preparatory chamber 3 (diffusing step). Inthis case, it is preferable, continuously with the heat treatment withinthe preparatory chamber 3, to carry out heat treatment for removingstrain of permanent magnets for a predetermined time duration (e.g. 30minutes) under a predetermined temperature (e.g. 500˜600° C.) lower thanthat in said heat treatment (annealing step). Finally the supportingmeans 6 is taken out from the preparatory chamber 3 by opening the gatevalve on the side wall 30 after having cooled for a predetermined timeduration.

Thus it is possible to obtain permanent magnets on which Dy is coatedover a whole surface of the sintered magnets S and heat treatment iscarried out to uniformly diffuse Dy coated on the surface of the magnetsS into crystal grain boundary phases of the magnets (FIG. 3( c)). Theneodymium magnet of the prior art has nature of being easily corrodedand thus its surface is covered by a protecting coating of resin such asepoxy or PPS or surface treatment such as nickel plating. On thecontrary, the surface of the magnet of the present invention is coveredby a coating of Dy having extremely higher corrosion and weatherresistance than those of Nd and thus it is possible to obtain apermanent magnet having excellent corrosion and weather resistancewithout requiring any additional protecting film. Accordingly owing toomission of the additional surface treating steps, it is possible tocoat Dy on surfaces of magnets at a high speed and at a predeterminedcoating thickness as well as to further improve the productivity and toreduce the manufacturing cost.

It is preferable that the surface and crystal grain boundary of themagnet have a Dy rich phase (phase including 5˜80% Dy). The neodymiummagnet of the prior art has three phases comprising the principal phase,Nd rich phase and B rich phase. According to the present invention sinceDy rich phase is present in the Nd rich phase in the crystal grainboundary which is weak in the corrosion resistance and weatherresistance, it is possible to manufacture permanent magnets havingextremely strong corrosion resistance and weather corrosion conjointlythe fact that Dy rich phase is present on the surface of the sinteredmagnets S.

It is more preferable that the surface of sintered magnets S is coveredby the Dy rich phase and the crystal grain boundary includes the Dy richphase of 1˜50%. On the other hand, when the crystal grain boundaryincludes the Dy rich phase more than 50%, the maximum energy product,remanent magnetic flux density and coercive force exhibiting themagnetic properties are extremely reduced.

Although the present invention has been described as to carrying outcoating of Dy on a surface of sintered magnets S of Fe—B-rare earthelements, the coating method and apparatus 1 of the present invention isnot limited to such an embodiment and can be applied to coating of othervaporizable metallic materials. In this case, conditions such as theheating temperature within the process chamber 2 and holding timeduration etc. are suitably set in accordance with articles to be coatedand properties of the vaporizable metallic materials. In addition, it ispossible to use Tb in place of Dy and to coat Tb at a high speed andselectively on the surface of sintered magnets of Fe—B-rare metalelements using the coating method and apparatus of the presentinvention. Furthermore, it is possible to carry out the diffusion stepwithin the process chamber 2 after the coating has been completed.

In addition, it is possible to use as vaporizable metallic material tobe coated an alloy including at least one of Dy and Tb and at least oneof Nd, Pr, Al, Cu, Ga and Ta for increasing the coercive force. Such analloy can further increase especially the coercive force as comparedwith permanent magnets obtained with being carried out the heattreatment. In this case, since Dy and Tb have a high melting point, itis preferable to use materials having a lower melting point than them togenerate vaporizable metallic material at a shorter time duration.

Although the preparatory chamber 3 is arranged under the process chamber2 in the illustrated embodiment, it is possible to arrange the processchamber 2 under the preparatory chamber 3. As shown in FIG. 4, whenmeasuring the density of Ar, He and Dy relative to a constant pressureand temperature, the density of Dy and Ar under a constant pressure isanalogous for example in cases of Ar density under a pressure of 10 Paand a room temperature (about 27° C.) and Dy density under a pressure of10 Pa and a high temperature (about 1,300° C.). From this fact, it ispossible to securely prevent a leakage of Dy vapor from the processchamber 2 to the preparatory chamber 3 due to a difference in specificgravity while the sintered magnets S are taken out from the processchamber 2, by introducing He gas having a large difference in densityrelative to a constant pressure into the preparatory 3 so that thepressure in the process chamber 2 and that in the preparatory chamber 3are substantially same when the process chamber 2 is arranged under thepreparatory chamber 3.

Although it is structured in the illustrated embodiment that heat ishard to be transmitted to the sintered magnets S through the posts 61,the present invention is not limited to such a structure and it may bepossible to provide any cooling means to forcedly suppress temperaturerise of the sintered magnets S. In this case, it is possible to providea cooling means to suppress temperature rise of the sintered magnets Sheated by radiant heat when the magnets S of ordinary temperature areintroduced into the process chamber 3 heated to a high temperature bycirculating a coolant (cooling water) through the posts 61 withenlarging a diameter of each post 61.

Embodiment 1

Each sintered magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements was made as arectangular parallelopiped of 50×50×8 mm using a raw material having acomposition of 31Nd-1Co-1B-0.1Cu-bal.Fe (“NEOMAX-50 manufactured byNEOMAX Co.). The surface of sintered magnet S was cleaned using acetoneafter having finished it as having a surface roughness of less than 20μm.

Dy was coated on the surface of sintered magnet S using the coatingapparatus 1 and method of the present invention. Dy of 99.9% degree ofpurity was used as the coating material and Dy of gross 500 g was laidon the receptor 24. A wire forming the mesh type supporting member 62 ofthe supporting means 6 is made of Mo and has a diameter of 1 mm. Thenfour (4) cleaned sintered magnets S were laid on each supporting members62 on a circle of a diameter (80 mm) oppositely in a diametricaldirection each other (totally eight (8) sintered magnets S were placedon two supporting members 62 of upper and lower stages. A space betweenthe supporting members 62 of the upper and lower stages is 60 mm.

Prior to coating of Dy, Ar was introduced into the preparatory chamber 3and cleaning by plasma treatment of the surface of sintered magnet S wascarried out for 60 seconds under conditions of a pressure of 10×10⁻¹ Paand of a high frequency voltage of 800 V. The temperature of thesintered magnet S after this cleaning was 60° C.

On the other hand, the process chamber 2 was closed by the open/closemeans 5 at its closed position and heated to 1,350° C. to vaporize Dyand to fill the process chamber 2 with Dy vapor. The pressure within theprocess chamber 2 and the preparatory chamber 3 when introducing thesintered magnets S into the Dy vapor atmosphere was set at 10×10⁻³ Paand the holding time duration after the sintered magnets S having beenintroduced into the process chamber 2 was set at 40 seconds.Furthermore, as conditions of heat treatment within the preparatorychamber 3, the pressure within the preparatory chamber 3 was set at10×10⁻³ Pa and the holding time duration was set at 5 minutes at 800° C.and 30 minutes at 600° C.

FIG. 5 is a table showing average values of magnetic properties of eight(8) permanent magnets manufactured under conditions described above.Magnetic properties of magnets on which Dy is not coated are also shownin the table of FIG. 5 as comparative examples. From these results, itis found that permanent magnets were obtained having a high magneticproperties such as the maximum energy product of 50.3 MG0e, the remanentmagnetic flux density of 14.4 kG and the coercive force of 23.5 K0e. Thetemperature of the sintered magnet S after being held for 40 seconds wasabout 600° C. and the coating thickness was about 100 μm and the coatingwas formed substantially uniformly on the surface of sintered magnet S.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment 2, permanent magnets were manufactured at sameconditions as those in the embodiment 1 except for that heat treatmentwas not carried out. However, the holding time duration of the permanentmagnets within the Dy vapor atmosphere was set at one (1) minute and thetemperature within the process chamber was varied. FIG. 6 is a tableshowing average values of a coating thickness of Dy when the coating wascarried out under these conditions, and the magnetic properties ofpermanent magnets manufactured in this embodiment. According to thisembodiment 2, it can be found that little coating is formed at atemperature lower than 1,000° C., but coating can be formed at a highspeed more than 20 μm/sec at a temperature higher than 1,200° C. In thiscase, it is found that it is possible to obtain a permanent magnethaving a maximum energy product of about 50 MG0e of little loss and ahigh coercive force of 17 K0e or more in a range of 1,100˜1,700° C.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment 3, permanent magnets were manufactured at sameconditions as those in the embodiment 1 except for that pretreatment(cleaning treatment) was not carried out. However, the holding timeduration of the permanent magnets within the Dy vapor atmosphere wasvaried. FIG. 7 is a table showing average values of the coatingthickness of Dy coated with the holding time duration being varied, themaximum and the magnetic properties of permanent magnets manufactured inthis embodiment. According to this embodiment 3, it can be found that avapor depositing velocity exceeding 17 μm can be obtained and thetemperature rise of sintered magnet itself is at most 743° C. althoughit is held for 60 seconds. In this case, it is found that it is possibleto obtain a permanent magnet of high coercive force having a maximumenergy product of about 50 MG0e, a remanent magnetic flux density of14.5 kG and a coercive force of 15.4˜21.3 K0e.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment 4, permanent magnets were manufactured at sameconditions as those in the embodiment 1 except for that pretreatment(cleaning treatment) was not carried out. However, the wire for formingthe mesh type supporting member 62 of the supporting means 6 is made ofMo and has a diameter of 3 mm. FIG. 8 is a table showing the magneticproperties when such a wire of Mo and having a diameter of 3 mm is usedfor making the supporting member 62. According to this embodiment 4, itcan be found that although there are remained mesh shaped non-coatedportions on the surface of the sintered magnet S facing to thesupporting member 62 with using a thick wire, there is scarcelyinfluenced on the coating of the magnet S by carrying out the coatingoperation on the mesh type supporting member 62 with laying the magnet Son the supporting member 62 in view of the direction of easymagnetization and thus it is possible to obtain a permanent magnet ofhigh coercive force having a maximum energy product of 50.0 MG0e, theremanent magnetic flux density of 14.4 kG and the coercive force of 21.3K0e.

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment 5, permanent magnets were manufactured at sameconditions as those in the embodiment 1 however the holding timeduration of the sintered magnet within the Dy vapor atmosphere wasvaried. FIG. 9( a) is a table showing average values of variation of thecoating thickness of Dy at measuring points shown in FIG. 9( b)(measuring points (1)˜(15)). According to this table of FIG. 9( a), itis found that substantially uniform coating can be obtained.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment 6, each sintered magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elementswas made as a rectangular parallelopiped of 3×50×40 mm using a rawmaterial having a composition of 22Nd-5Dy-0.9B-4Co-bal.Fe. In this case,a surface of the sintered magnet S was finished as having the surfaceroughness less than 50 μm.

Then a metallic coating was formed on a surface of the sintered magnet Sby using the coating apparatus 1 and method of the present invention.Raw material having a composition of 10Dy-5Tb-50Nd-35Pr was used ascoating material and laid on the receptor 24. A wire forming the meshtype supporting member 62 of the supporting means 6 is made of Mo andhas a diameter of 1 mm. One hundred (100) sintered magnets S cleaned asmentioned above were arranged so that they were diametrically opposed onthe supporting member 62.

On the other hand, the process chamber 2 was tightly closed at theclosed position of the open/close means 5 and heated to 1,250° C. tovaporize the vaporizable coating material having a composition mentionedabove to generate metallic vapor atmosphere within the process chamber2. The pressure within the process chamber 2 and the preparatory chamber3 when the sintered magnets S are introduced into the metallic vaporatmosphere was set at 10×10⁻² Pa and the pressure within the preparatorychamber 3 was set at substantially same as that within the processchamber 2 by introducing He gas into the preparatory chamber 3.

The holding time duration after the sintered magnets S having beenconveyed into the process chamber 2 was set at 10˜300 seconds so thatthe maximum temperature of each sintered magnet became 100˜1,000° C. Inthis case, each post 61 was water cooled. In addition, as conditions ofthe heat treatment within the preparatory chamber 3, the pressure withinthe preparatory chamber 3 was set at 10×10⁻³ Pa and the holding timeduration was one (1) hour at 800° C. (diffusing step) and 30 minutes at600° C. (annealing step). Then the pressure within the preparatorychamber 3 was returned to the atmosphere pressure and the magnets weretaken out therefrom.

FIG. 10 is a table showing the magnetic properties as to one hundred(100) permanent magnets manufactured under conditions mentioned aboveand the fraction deflection of adhesion after having carried out thetape peeling method (tape test). According to these results, it is foundthat when the maximum temperature of the sintered magnets S does notreach 100° C., the coating material does not deposit on the surface ofthe sintered magnets S and thus a high coercive force cannot beobtained. On the other hand, it is found that when the maximumtemperature is in a range of 100˜1,050° C., the coating material of athickness of 10 μm or more is deposited on the surface of the sinteredmagnet S and a permanent magnet of high coercive force having themaximum energy product of 44 MG0e or more, the remanent magnetic fluxdensity of 13.8 kG or more and the coercive force of 28 K0e or more isobtainable. However it is also found that when the temperature of thesintered magnet S is in a range of 250˜450° C., the percent defective ofadhesion of less than 10% was caused. In the embodiment 6, sincecleaning of a surface of the sintered magnets is not carried out priorto Dy coating, ingress of Dy into grains of the sintered magnet duringcoating operation is suppressed and thus it is found that the maximumenergy product exhibiting the magnetic properties is not reducedalthough the maximum temperature of the sintered magnets exceed 900° C.

Embodiment 7

In this embodiment 7, each sintered magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elementswas made as a rectangular parallelopiped of 5×50×40 mm using a rawmaterial having a composition of 28Nd-1B-0.05Cu-0.17Zr-bal.Fe. In thiscase, a surface of the sintered magnet S was finished as having thesurface roughness less than 5 μm and then cleaned by using acetone.

Then Dy was coated on a surface of the sintered magnet S by using thecoating apparatus 1 and method of the present invention. In this case Dyof 99.9% degree of purity was used as coating material and laid on thereceptor 24. One hundred (100) sintered magnets S cleaned as mentionedabove were arranged so that they were diametrically opposed on thesupporting member 62.

Prior to coating operation, Ar was introduced into the preparatorychamber 3 and cleaning by plasma treatment of the surface of sinteredmagnet S was carried out for 60 seconds under conditions of a pressureof 10×10⁻¹ Pa and of a high frequency voltage of 800 V. The temperatureof the sintered magnet S after this cleaning was 60° C.

On the other hand, the process chamber 2 was closed by the open/closemeans 5 at its closed position and heated to 1,200° C. to vaporize Dyand to generate metallic vapor atmosphere within the process chamber 2.The pressure within the process chamber 2 and the preparatory chamber 3when introducing the sintered magnets S into the Dy vapor atmosphere wasset at 10×10⁻² Pa and the holding time duration was set so that Dycoating of 20 μm in average can be formed after the sintered magnets Shaving been introduced into the process chamber 2. Furthermore, asconditions of heat treatment within the preparatory chamber 3, thepressure within the preparatory chamber 3 was set at 10×10⁻³ Pa and theholding time duration was set at one (1) hour at 950° C. (diffusionstep) and 30 minutes at 500° C. (annealing step). Then the pressurewithin the preparatory chamber 3 was returned to the atmosphere pressureand the magnets were taken out therefrom.

Comparative Examples

Sintered magnets S were manufactured under same conditions as those inthe embodiment 7 as comparative examples 1˜3. In the comparative example1, permanent magnets were obtained by applying resin coating of epoxy of20 μm in average on the surface of one hundred (100) sintered magnets Susing a known method in place of forming Dy coating and heat treatmenton the surface of magnets S. In the comparative example 2, Ni plating of20 μm in average was applied on the surface of one hundred (100)sintered magnets S using a known plating method. In the comparativeexample 3, Al of 20 μm coating thickness in average was vapor depositedon the surface of one hundred (100) sintered magnets S using a knownvapor depositing method.

FIG. 11 is a table showing results of comparison between permanentmagnets of the embodiment 7 and comparative examples 1˜3, and thesintered magnets S (comparative example 4) respectively as to themagnetic properties, corrosion resistance and weather resistance.Following corrosion resistance test and the weather resistance test werecarried out: a visual inspection test confirming if or not generation ofcorrosion after a lapse of 100 hours from spraying of saline water onthe surfaces of permanent magnets and sintered magnets; a saturatedsteam pressure test (PCT: pressure cooker test) for 100 hour; and avisual inspection test confirming if or not generation of corrosionafter a lapse of 1,000 hour under a condition of temperature of 80° C.and humidity of 90%.

According to this comparison, it is found that the permanent magnet ofthe embodiment 7 of the present invention has high magnetic propertiesof the maximum energy product of 56 MG0e, the remanent magnetic fluxdensity of 15.0 kG or more, and the coercive force of 28 K0e relative tothe coercive force of 10 K0e in the comparative examples 1˜4. Inaddition, it is also found that although generation of corrosion wasconfirmed in the corrosion resistance test or weather resistance test asto the comparative examples 1˜4, no generation of corrosion is confirmedin these test as to the embodiment 7 of the present invention and thusthe permanent magnets manufactured in accordance with the presentinvention have strong corrosion resistance and weather resistance.

Embodiment 8

In this embodiment 8, each sintered magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elementswas made as a rectangular parallelopiped of 50×50×8 mm using a rawmaterial having a composition of 31Nd-1Co-1B-0.1Cu-bal.Fe (“NEOMAX-50manufactured by NEOMAX Co.). The surface of sintered magnet S wascleaned using acetone after having finished it as having a surfaceroughness of less than 20 μm.

Vaporizable metallic material was coated on the surface of sinteredmagnet S using the coating apparatus 1 and method of the presentinvention. Alloy comprising Dy and Nd, Pr, Al, Cu, Ga, Ta mingled withDy respectively at stoichimetric ratio 1:1 was used as the vaporizablemetallic material and laid on the receptor 24. Prior to coating of thevaporizable metallic material, Ar was introduced into the preparatorychamber 3 and cleaning by plasma treatment of the surface of sinteredmagnet S was carried out for 60 seconds under conditions of a pressureof 10×10⁻¹ Pa and of high frequency voltage of 800 V. The temperature ofthe sintered magnet S after this cleaning was 60° C.

On the other hand, the process chamber 2 was closed by the open/closemeans 5 at its closed position and heated to 1,350° C. to vaporize thevaporizable metallic material and to fill the process chamber 2 withmetallic vapor. The pressure within the process chamber 2 and thepreparatory chamber 3 when introducing the sintered magnets S into themetallic vapor atmosphere was set at 10×10⁻² Pa and the holding timeduration was set so that a coating having a coating thickness of about30 μm was formed after the sintered magnets S having been introducedinto the process chamber 2. Furthermore as conditions of heat treatmentwithin the preparatory chamber 3, the pressure within the preparatorychamber 3 was set at 10×10⁻³ Pa and the holding time duration was set at5 minutes at 800° C. (diffusing step) and 30 minutes at 600° C.(annealing step).

FIG. 12 is a table showing the magnetic properties of permanent magnetsmanufactured under conditions described above. Magnetic properties as tomagnets in which only Dy was used as vaporizable metallic material andas to magnets in which alloy comprising Dy and Ni, Co, Fe, Au, Pt, Agmingled with Dy respectively at stoichimetric ratio 1:1 was used as thevaporizable metallic material are also shown in the table. From theseresults, it is found that permanent magnets of comparative examples aresubstantially reduced especially in the coercive force and the maximumenergy product as compared with the permanent magnets comprising coatingof only Dy. On the other hand, it is found that the permanent magnets ofthe embodiment 8 of the present invention is superior especially in thecoercive force as compared with the magnets comprising coating of onlyDy and that it is possible to obtain permanent magnets having highmagnetic properties of the maximum energy product ((BH)max) of 50.6 MG0eor more, the remanent magnetic flux density (Br) of 14.0 kG or more, andthe coercive force (Hcj) of 24.1 K0e or more.

The present invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiment. Obviously, modifications and alternations will occur tothose of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding thepreceding detailed description. It is intended that the presentinvention be construed as including all such alternations andmodifications insofar as they come within the scope of the appendedclaims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A coating method comprising a first step for heating a processchamber and generating metallic vapor atmosphere within the processchamber by vaporizing vaporizable metallic material previously arrangedwithin the process chamber, and a second step for introducing into theprocess chamber articles to be coated held at a temperature lower thanthat within the process chamber and then selectively depositing thevaporizable metallic material on a surface of article to be coated by aneffect of temperature difference between the temperature within theprocess chamber and that of the articles to be coated.
 2. A coatingmethod of claim 1 wherein the metallic vapor atmosphere is in asaturated condition within the process chamber.
 3. A coating apparatuscomprising a process chamber which can heat substantially uniformly aninside of the process chamber to a high temperature by a heating means,a preparatory chamber communicating to the process chamber, anevacuating means for holding both the process and preparatory chambersat a predetermined degree of vacuum, an open/close means moveablebetween an opened position in which the process and preparatory chambersare communicated each other and a closed position in which the processchamber is tightly closed, and a conveying means which can move thearticles to be coated between the process chamber and the preparatorychamber and can tightly close the process chamber when the articles tobe coated are moved into the process chamber at the opened position ofthe open/close means, wherein the process chamber is heated at theclosed position of the open/close means, metallic vapor atmosphere isgenerated by vaporizing vaporizable metal material previously arrangedwithin the process chamber, the articles to be coated within thepreparatory chamber are moved into the process chamber by the conveyingmeans with the open/close means being moved to the opened position so asto selectively deposit the vaporizable metallic material on a surface ofarticle to be coated by an effect of temperature difference between thetemperature within the process chamber and that of the articles to becoated.
 4. A coating apparatus of claim 3 wherein the process chamber isarranged within a vacuum chamber equipped with another evacuating meansand defined by a uniformly heating plate formed with an opening at oneside thereof, a heat insulating member is arranged so that it enclosesthe uniformly heating plate except for said side of the uniformlyheating plate in which said opening is formed, and a heating means forheating the uniformly heating plate is arranged between the uniformlyheating plate and the heat insulating member.
 5. A coating apparatus ofclaim 3 further comprising a gas introducing means for introducing inertgas into the preparatory chamber, and the inert gas is introduced intothe preparatory chamber via the gas introducing means so as to hold thepressure within the process chamber at a negative pressure relative tothat of the preparatory chamber.
 6. A coating apparatus of claim 3wherein the preparatory chamber is equipped with a gas introducing meansfor introducing He gas into the preparatory chamber, and the He gas isintroduced into the preparatory chamber via the gas introducing means soas to hold the pressure within the process chamber at substantially sameas that within the preparatory chamber.
 7. A coating apparatus of claim6 wherein the process chamber is arranged below the preparatory chamber.8. A coating apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a placement meanson which the vaporizable metallic material can be placed within theprocess chamber, and the placement means is formed as an annulus so thatthe vaporizable metallic material can be arranged around the articles tobe coated when the articles to be coated are moved into the processchamber by the conveying means.
 9. A coating apparatus of claim 3wherein the preparatory chamber is equipped with a plasma generatingmeans for cleaning the surface of article to be coated by using plasma.10. A coating apparatus of claim 3 wherein the preparatory chamber isequipped with another heating means for cleaning the surface of articleto be coated by heat treatment with introducing the inert gas into thevacuum atmosphere or the preparatory chamber via the gas introducingmeans connected thereto.
 11. A coating apparatus of claim 3 wherein thevaporizable metallic material is alloy including either one of Dy or Tbor including at least one of Dy and Tb, and the article to be coated isa sintered magnet of Fe—B-rare earth elements having a predeterminedconfiguration.